Daiki Hiramori —Department of Sociology, University of Washington

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On Sunday, December 16, I will be presenting the results of “niji VOICE 2018” (A Web Survey on LGBT Issues and the Workplace Environment) at the Report Meeting of the “niji VOICE 2018” Survey, cosponsored by the Center for Gender Studies at International Christian University and the nonprofit organization Nijiiro Diversity.

As of September 1, I have been appointed as a Research Fellow of the Center for Gender Studies at International Christian University. Although I have already been involved in a collaborative research between the nonprofit organization Nijiiro Diversity and the Center for Gender Studies at International Christian University as a Research Member since October 2013, I am excited to continue working on the analysis of “niji VOICE” (Web Surveys on LGBT Issues and the Workplace Environment)!

Abstract: Recent evidence has documented a rural-urban convergence in divorce rates, challenging the notion that marriage is more fragile in large metropolitan centers. Little research, however, has examined the correlates of divorce in non-metropolitan regions. We test whether county-level divorce filing rates vary along a continuum that captures rural-urban integration. We also test whether regional variation in divorce filing rates is a function of economic restructuring and “casualized” family relations, levels of religious conservatism and early family formation, or the flow of information and social capital between counties. Using 15 years of monthly data on divorce filings in Washington State, Minnesota, and Ohio, we find evidence that divorce filing rates are contingent on the extent that a county is integrated in metropolitan regions. However, how any why metropolitan integration affects county-level divorce filing rates depends largely on state of residence and whether or not the divorce involved young children.

Title: Social-Institutional Structures That Matter: An Exploratory Analysis of Sexual/Gender Minority Status and Income in Japan

Abstract: While most previous studies examining the effects of sexual orientation on earnings rely on lesbian women, gay men, and their heterosexual counterparts in Western societies, this paper argues that focusing on different stratification processes within sexual/gender minorities as well as social-institutional structures of a society is indispensable to the study of sexuality stratification. Using the LGBT Workplace Environment Survey 2015, this study explores the association between sexual/gender minority status and income in Japan. The results show that there is a negative association between being a sexual/gender minority and income among both designated females at birth and designated males at birth. The results suggesting the lesbian premium found in Western economies are not observed in Japan. In addition, the findings indicate that the processes through which sexuality stratification operates depend on various categories of sexual/gender minorities such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual, transgender, and a local transgender category in Japan “X-gender.”

Abstract: Why are divorce rates in non-metropolitan areas within the U.S. approaching those of the urban core? Recent evidence suggests that non-urban regions exhibit higher rates of conservative Protestantism, encouraging early transitions into marriage and childbearing that elevate the risk of divorce. Other work suggests that non-metropolitan regions have suffered acute declines in labor force attachment among less-educated workers, accompanied by a “casualization” of family relations that may jeopardize marital stability. Using 15 years of monthly data on county divorce filings in Washington State, we examine both perspectives. We find that less “metropolitan” counties tend to have higher divorce rates, but that higher rates of evangelical Protestantism explain this finding only for divorces not involving young children. County-level measures of educational attainment and manufacturing employment affect filing rates in ways consistent with the “casualization” hypothesis, but among couples with children, these factors do not explain persistently-higher divorce rates in non-metropolitan counties.

On June 12, I will be presenting “Possibilities of Queer and Feminist Methodologies in Quantitative Research: Findings from the ‘LGBT Workplace Environment Survey 2015’” at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of Japan (PAJ). The panel session “Sexual Minorities in Population Studies: Current State of Research in Japan” is the first session on sexual minorities at PAJ, so I am very excited to give my presentation.

NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) News at 6 pm on September 5 covered the report meeting of the LGBT Workplace Environment Survey, and I got interviewed as well.
I made a comment and said, “The survey showed that many sexual/gender minority people felt that unintentional language and behavior from their colleagues at the workplace was discriminatory, even when it was not directed toward themselves. Companies should create a friendly workplace on the premise that there are a certain number of sexual/gender minority people.”

On Saturday, September 5, I will be presenting the results of the ”LGBT Workplace Environment Survey 2015″ as a data commentator at the “Report Meeting of the LGBT Workplace Environment Survey: The Power of Data for the Improvement of the Workplace Environment in Tokyo 2015,” cosponsored by the nonprofit organization Nijiiro Diversity and the Center for Gender Studies at International Christian University.

My first peer-reviewed journal article was published in the 10th issue of Gender and Sexuality: Journal of the Center for Gender Studies, ICU. The 10th issue of Gender and Sexuality can be downloaded here.

Abstract: This research analyzes the effect of being a sexual and/or gender minority on income, and the effect of discriminatory language and behavior toward sexual and gender minorities in the workplace on willingness to continue working. Utilizing the “Survey on LGBT Issues in the Workplace Environment 2014” conducted by Nijiiro Diversity, a nonprofit organization, the multiple regression analyses reveal that being a minority in terms of sexual orientation and being a transgender individual have effects on income, without control variables. With control variables, the association between income and identifying as lesbian or gay, identifying as bisexual when gender at birth was male, or being a transgender individual whose gender at birth was female became insignificant. However, even after controlling other variables, being a bisexual whose gender at birth was female, being a transgender whose assigned gender at birth was male, and possessing other sexual orientations had negative effects on income. This suggests that economic discrimination against sexual and gender minorities affects various categories of sexual and gender minorities differently. Further, findings indicate that the existence of discriminatory language and behavior toward sexual and gender minorities in the workplace has a negative effect on willingness to continue working. As this paper used a web survey, the conclusions should not be overgeneralized.